Page 600 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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It affects us here as members, because the community will rightly question what the members of this Assembly think and will do when an MLA comes in and has a spray at a community organisation. If we do not respond here—and we have tried to respond before—in an appropriate manner, the community will rightly say: “Do they endorse this? Don’t they think John Hargreaves should apologise? Do they think it is all right that he can come in and make such a vile comment, attack a community organisation and then not apologise? Does Amanda Bresnan not think that John Hargreaves should apologise for this? Does Joy Burch not think that John Hargreaves should apologise for this?” These are the questions that the community will raise.
This is not an isolated incident. We have seen a pattern of behaviour here from John Hargreaves. We have seen sexist attacks on Mrs Dunne. We have seen in the news issues with Ms Bresnan. Remember? He was sacked as a minister on a couple of occasions. And it is fair to say that we have seen erratic behaviour from Mr Hargreaves in this place on frequent occasions, and we have excused that perhaps; we have seen that it was not affecting the community. He would come in here and behave erratically, particularly late at night, and we on this side have ignored that.
But when it affects the community, when it is no longer about us, when it is erratic behaviour that is not directed at us but behaviour that flows into members of the community, that is the time that we, quite rightly, should stand up and say: “Enough is enough. You cannot come down into this place late at night and in an erratic way start spraying at members of the community.” And if anybody thinks that that behaviour is acceptable, they need to stand up here and say so, because what Mr Smyth has put forward is a quite reasonable motion that calls on Mr Hargreaves to apologise to the Assembly, because if he does not apologise to us he is essentially saying—
Ms Burch: He just did.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Ms Burch. Order!
MR HANSON: This is about what the motion is asking him to do. Ms Burch, if you think that it is okay, you will not be moving the amendments that you have circulated, because that is all Mr Smyth is asking Mr Hargreaves to do. There is no requirement therefore for amendments, because what we are asking him to do is to apologise—Ms Burch has said that he just did and therefore she thinks that that is okay, so that will stand—and to write to the members of the community council to apologise. It is good enough for the Chief Minister to write to the community council. Why isn’t it good enough for Mr Hargreaves to write to the community council?
Mr Hargreaves: I did.
MR HANSON: I think what we are asking him to do is eminently reasonable, so I do not understand—
Mr Hargreaves: Wasn’t listening.
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